Tony's Classic Scooter Body Repairs

Roberto (the Vespa Wizard) called me a while back enquiring as to whether I'd be interested in doing a few body repairs on another classic scooter...a 1977 Vespa PX125 owned by his friend, Tony. Overall the body shell was in fair condition but had suffered some accident damage at the rear. It also had some rot/corrosion under the belly pan below the spine, tears and perforated sheet metal in a variety of places.

Rust proofing seems to be non evident on classic scooters and the central spine being fully enclosed suffers the worst from condensation and moisture leading to corrosion. Sections of the inner frame on the 2 scooters I've cut open illustrate bare metal...a perfect recipe for the tin worm.

The scope of the work is to cut out the corroded body metal, repair with fresh panel steel, and to also repair tears, perforations and damaged brackets, etc.

The images below should be self explanatory.

As an aside, if you've ever wondered about that hole within the scooter central spine that you've had to feed either control cables or electrical wiring through, consider that it's not even the size of a 20 cent coin. The oblong you see here is not the hole the cables go through, the hole is at one end of the oblong. So it really is like trying to thread a needle with your eyes closed!

Here's a section of the piece I cut out of the belly of the scooter's central spine.

I managed to get a couple of hours work in today with the focus being primarily on the rear side covers. The RHS had a missing locating pin at the rear which I fabricated from a piece of 1/4" steel rod and brazed (using bronze) in place.

The LHS panel covers the spare wheel and had suffered some type of impact damage in the past. There was a bodged repair at the very rear of this panel which resulted in a large gap and poor panel fit...so a bit of slicing and dicing was required. This repair is not quite finished yet.

This is the last update to the body repairs I've been doing on Tony's scooter. I finished all the major and minor work with most of the focus now on welding the myriad holes and tears in the sheet metal. Both the rear dismountable covers needed considerable fettling to gain an acceptable fit so that large gaps weren't present around the curved perimeter when against the body.

Note that the LHS cover required slitting and opening up a section for a narrow pie slice of panel steel to be inserted. There were also numerous places in the rear covers where a blob of bog (filler) was used to fill holes.

Here are the pix.

The piece of card taped over the pie slice cut is used to create an accurate template of the missing piece of metal. Simply rub the edge of the card with a pencil to form an accurate impression...remove it...cut to the lines formed...then trace to a piece of panel steel.

I was wondering as I have just sand blasted and undercoated my PX 200e body and do you know where the factory spot riveter joins all the parts namely the main spline and above the rear tail light did they fill the marks and on the pictures you have of the great work so far the rear panel top bracket welded on the frame should it me at right level to the frame because i have mine slopping does as the panel fits better or is it a frame by frame issue.

Hi Mark...I'd like to assist you but your questions are somewhat confusing. Riveting and spot welding are 2 different processes entirely.

Riveting is a purely mechanical method where a component is attached by utilizing an alloy or stainless 'rivet' that mechanically contracts in a locating hole drilled through 2 pieces of metal (or other) bringing them into close and tight contact.

Spot welding joins 2 panels together by passing an electrical current between 2 electrodes for a specified time. This raises the temperature of the metal between the electrodes to a temperature hot enough to fuse one to the other. The process leaves an indentation or spot on either side of the panel at the join. These indentations would be 'covered' with a skim of filler or a molding by the factory. Having said that, this isn't always done on inexpensive vehicles.

What is the rear panel top bracket you're referring to? You need to post some pictures to clarify the issue.

Recently I dropped by Roberto's workshop and was delighted to see Tony's Vespa resplendent and pristine in its fresh coat of metallic blue paint. Tony was at the shop assisting Roberto in refitting some of its trim, electrical and mechanical components